Friday, February 11, 2011

Top Chef - For Cooking Lover

I never did full-fledged cooking before, until I got married. When I moved to US, I used to spend my time watching the exclusive FOOD channel. Being a vegetarian, unable to even take a glance at a piece of meat; I got used to the shows and loved watching the different methods, styles & science of cooking. Then I started watching the American food show Top Chef. A cooking competition, with a variety of creativity of cooking methods, ideas, presentation, everything! Contestants are supposed to develop a recipe on the spot based on the challenge they have, their knowledge of taste & flavor of the ingredients to be used. Watching the show, I realized how perfectly you should know the tastes & flavors, how each will compliment another. Growing up here in India, eating out has never been a great example of presentation. Frankly speaking, I was amazed at how much importance they gave for presentation!

I also watched the Indian version of Top chef - Master Chef India, hosted by actor Akshay Kumar. To me it was one of the most annoying shows, where the judges are constantly talking to the contestants while they cook, they scream & yell at them, constantly commenting on their work; it’s a whole Indian drama in the kitchen. Talk about PRESENTATION!!! I had actually thought about writing to the channel about the whole drama & tension they create, never did that though! Watch a sample video of the show at minute 2.10

In regard to this, Top Chef is a calm & quite show with Judges appearing only to taste the food when it is ready & give their verdict accordingly. And for those who like watching cooking, you can watch the repeat telecast of Top Chef on AXN channel at 5pm every day. Today they started showing Season 5 J; exactly where I had stopped watching the show when it came live. Yay!